Americans United - Huey Longhttps://www.au.org/tags/huey-long
enCurriculum Cleanup: Louisiana Parish Bars Creationism From Public Schoolshttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/curriculum-cleanup-louisiana-parish-bars-creationism-from-public-schools
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Louisiana has attempted to force religion into public schools since the days of Huey Long, and there is still a very long way to go before Louisiana joins the ranks of the states with the best public education systems.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Louisiana officials have often been far from favorable when it comes to church-state separation, so today we are particularly happy to salute school officials in Orleans Parish for doing the right thing.</p><p>This week, the Orleans Parish School Board <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/12/18/the-orleans-parish-school-board-in-louisiana-just-voted-to-ban-creationism-from-their-schools/">voted to reject any science textbook</a> “which presents creationism or intelligent design as science or scientific theories.”</p><p>A policy was also adopted that will prohibit science teachers from lecturing on creationism or religion.</p><p><strong>“</strong>No teacher of any discipline of science shall teach any aspect of religious faith as science or in a science class.<strong> </strong>No teacher of any discipline of science shall teach creationism or intelligent design in classes designated as science classes,” the new policy states.</p><p>That’s a pretty big deal in a state led by Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is on a mission to hand over millions of taxpayer dollars to religious schools through vouchers and is <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/funding-fundamentalism-student-documents-louisiana-voucher-subsidy-for">perfectly happy to have his government subsidize “creation science</a>.”</p><p>Fortunately, Orleans Parish School Board President Thomas Robichaux has other ideas. He not only led the effort to keep out creationism, he also helped make sure Orleans Parish schools won’t be buying revisionist history books, either.</p><p>Naturally some folks didn’t like what Robichaux has been up to, and he <a href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2012/12/orleans_parish_school_board_re.html">addressed those critics</a> with a quote from Teddy Roosevelt.</p><p>“‘It is not the critic who counts…’” Robichaux said, according to the New Orleans <em>Times-Picayune</em>. “‘The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.’”</p><p>Robichaux added, “I am proud to have been in the arena with all of you.” </p><p>Although Robichaux’s term as board president is ending, it appears he is not alone in the effort to stop Jindal’s agenda. In May, the New Orleans City Council unanimously called for the repeal of the Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows creationist concepts to be taught in public schools.</p><p>I hope these developments are the just the beginning of a wide-ranging effort to reject the promotion of religious doctrine in Louisiana’s public schools, but there is no chance Jindal and his Religious Right allies are ready to give in. Although his voucher program has been <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/voucher-victory-louisiana-court-strikes-down-private-school-aid-scheme">handed some recent defeats in court</a>, Jindal has said he will fight on.</p><p>Louisiana has attempted to force religion into public schools since the days of Huey Long, and there is still a very long way to go before Louisiana joins the ranks of the states with the best public education systems.</p><p>But as 2012 comes to a close, we are a lot more hopeful that Louisiana will finally defeat those who want to indoctrinate children at taxpayer expense. Here’s hoping 2013 brings more good news from the Pelican State.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/creationism-evolution">Creationism &amp; Evolution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bobby-jindal">Bobby Jindal</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-robichaux">Thomas Robichaux</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/huey-long">Huey Long</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louisiana-science-education-act">Louisiana Science Education Act</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Location:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/our-work/grassroots/louisiana">Louisiana</a></span></div></div>Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:32:51 +0000Simon Brown7850 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/curriculum-cleanup-louisiana-parish-bars-creationism-from-public-schools#commentsEducational Swamp: Lawsuits Target Louisiana’s New School Voucher Lawhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/educational-swamp-lawsuits-target-louisiana-s-new-school-voucher-law
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Louisiana&#039;s new voucher law heads to court. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Americans United has been closely following developments in Louisiana, where Gov. Bobby Jindal pushed a series of education bills, including a private school voucher plan, through the legislature.</p><p>Louisiana is in a heck of a fix. The state’s commitment to public education has always been lukewarm at best. Part of the problem is government officials have long been obsessed with finding ways to siphon money into the coffers of religious (mostly Catholic) schools. This goes all the way back to the days of Huey Long.</p><p>Jindal’s voucher scheme will only further undermine public education in the state. As we’ve <a href="http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/school-daze-louisiana-approves-taxpayer-funding-for-ill-equipped-church">reported</a> here on “The Wall of Separation,” money is often being funneled to religious schools of dubious worth. (One pastor said he has ambitious plans to expand his voucher-subsidized school “on faith.”)</p><p>Can some sanity be brought to the Pelican State? Perhaps. Teachers and other public school advocates are banding together in Louisiana to <a href="http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20120617/NEWS0401/206170307/Number-lawsuits-over-Louisiana-s-voucher-program-growing?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CEducation%20News%7Cs">challenge the voucher boondoggle</a> in court. As many as three lawsuits may eventually be filed.</p><p>These lawsuits won’t be filed on church-state grounds. Unfortunately, that’s no longer possible. Louisiana used to have strong language in its state constitution mandating the separation of church and state and barring the diversion of public funds to religious schools. That safeguard was removed in 1974 as part of a constitutional revision campaign led by sectarian lobbies.</p><p>Instead, Louisiana educators are arguing in court that the voucher bill violates another provision of the state constitution that says tax monies drawn from the Minimum Foundation Program must be used for “all public elementary and secondary schools, as well as to equitably allocate the funds to parish and city school systems.”</p><p>The education groups assert that this language means that tax money can only be spent on public schools, not diverted to private ones.</p><p>I hope they are successful in court. But in the meantime, other states should look at what happened in Louisiana as a cautionary tale. In Florida, voters are being asked to repeal that state’s strong church-state language, a provision that, like the one Louisiana once had, bars public funding of religious schools.</p><p>Floridians should ask themselves if they really want to emulate Louisiana’s example.</p><p>Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is just an issue affecting a few states. Some political ideologues are eager to make vouchers – and the privatization of public education – national policy.</p><p>In Washington, D.C., a taxpayer-funded voucher program has been operating for the past few years, despite several studies showing that it has not boosted the academic performance of the target population. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has just <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/deal-reached-on-dc-school-voucher-program/2012/06/18/gJQAXOgKmV_story.html">struck a deal</a> with President Barack Obama to keep the federally subsidized program humming along.</p><p>In these tough economic times, tax resources should go only to the public school system – a system that 90 percent of Americans rely on for education.</p><p>Religious and other private schools have every right to exist. They have absolutely no right to ask you to pay their bills.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louisiana">louisiana</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vouchers">vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bobby-jindal">Bobby Jindal</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/huey-long">Huey Long</a></span></div></div>Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:41:50 +0000Rob Boston7240 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/educational-swamp-lawsuits-target-louisiana-s-new-school-voucher-law#commentsEducational Swamp: Louisiana Governor Pushes Voucher Billshttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/educational-swamp-louisiana-governor-pushes-voucher-bills
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Dangerous voucher bills are moving forward in Louisiana. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Louisiana has an incredibly bad record when it comes to taxpayer aid to religious schools.</p><p>Back in the 1920s, Gov. Huey Long pushed a bill through the legislature giving textbooks to Catholic schools at taxpayer expense. The state has been the site of repeated efforts to siphon tax dollars away from public schools into the coffers of religious schools ever since.</p><p>Two especially dangerous bills are moving in the Pelican State. One expands existing voucher programs that are limited to “special needs” students and select students in New Orleans to include all low-income students. Another is a tax credit scheme that is gaining in popularity among right-wing legislators. Under these boondoggles, which are essentially vouchers by another name, people donate money to organizations that offer “scholarships” (vouchers) to private school patrons. The donor then gets a 100 percent tax rebate.</p><p>Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is playing hardball on this issue. Last week, state Rep. Harold Ritchie (D-Franklinton) <a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/03/bogalusa_lawmaker_removed_as_v.html">was replaced</a> as vice chairman of the House Insurance Committee after he voted against the tax-credit plan during a committee vote.</p><p>“I understand the consequences of votes,” Ritchie told the New Orleans <em>Times-Picayune</em>. “They had to send a message, I guess. If you are going to be in leadership, evidently you have to be there 100 percent of the time.”</p><p>Added Ritchie, “They were just sending a message to all who are fixing to vote (on administration bills). That is just fear and intimidation.”</p><p>U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu blasted the move in a <a href="http://landrieu.senate.gov/mediacenter/pressreleases/03-15-2012-2.cfm">press release</a>.</p><p>“Gov. Jindal said yesterday that he wants this process to be an open one, with time and opportunity ‘for people to offer their ideas, their reviews, their comments,’” noted Landrieu. “If that is true – and he is serious about allowing an open and fair review of his proposals – this type of intimidation should not be part of this important and extraordinary debate.”</p><p>Ritchie said he voted against the bill (HB 969) because he’s concerned about its provisions.</p><p>“I asked a few questions about the accountability provisions in it,” Ritchie said. “I just couldn’t vote for it…. I’ve got to vote my conscience. I have to vote [with the needs of] my district back home.”</p><p>Ritchie is right to be concerned about accountability. Private school boosters in the state are salivating at the prospect of receiving taxpayer support, but they have steadfastly resisted all efforts to impose any accountability standards.</p><p>Gene Mills, executive director the politically powerful Louisiana Family Forum (an arm of Focus on the Family), wrote recently that the only accountability private religious schools should have is to the parents who use those schools.</p><p>“I am of the impression that the cries for accountability and testing are a ‘poison pill’ designed to cripple the Jindal education reform package,” <a href="http://www.lafamilyforum.org/2012/03/render-unto-caesar/">Mills wrote</a>. “No church-run school would or should adopt the onerous and unproductive edicts, mandates, standards, test, philosophies, fees or red tape that so-called ‘accountability’ imposes.”</p><p>Some legislators are concerned about the accountability issue and have proposed legislation that would impose the same standardized tests on the private schools taking part in the "choice" plan that public school students take. It’s unclear how all of this will shake out.</p><p>Americans United sent an alert to its Louisiana members urging them to speak out against vouchers in the state. Unfortunately, pro-voucher sentiment appears to be strong in the legislature. Legislation expanding the voucher plan to low-income students <a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/03/jindal_voucher-charter_bill_cl.html">passed the state House</a> yesterday and is headed to the Louisiana Senate. Legislators did approve an amendment to the bill requiring some accountability, but details would apparently be set by the governor’s allies.</p><p>During debate over that bill, some legislators argued that Louisiana is turning its back on public education. State Rep. Robert Johnson (D-Marksville) asserted, “I came here to fix the public school system….We shouldn’t raise the white flag…and pass the buck to the private school system.”</p><p>Johnson is right on. Private schools are popular in Louisiana, but public institutions still serve more than 80 percent of the children there. Those schools alone deserve taxpayer support.</p><p>The tax credit plan is scheduled to face a vote next week. If you live in Louisiana, now is the time to contact your state legislators </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/tuition-tax-credits-and-deductions">Tuition Tax Credits and Deductions</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louisiana">louisiana</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vouchers">vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tuition-tax-credits">tuition tax credits</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mary-landrieu">Mary Landrieu</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bobby-jindal">Bobby Jindal</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/harold-ritchie">Harold Ritchie</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/huey-long">Huey Long</a></span></div></div>Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:38:05 +0000Rob Boston6935 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/educational-swamp-louisiana-governor-pushes-voucher-bills#comments